Operational heat content charts at the Tropical Prediction Center

New operational tools to help predict tropical cyclone intensity will become available at the Tropical Prediction Center (TPC)/National Hurricane Center (NHC) for the year 2000 season. Weekly estimates of surface height anomalies (SHA), upper layer thickness, upper oceanic heat content, and changes in upper layer thickness and heat content are now easily accessible to the forecasters. These products will incorporate the upper ocean as an additional parameter in tropical cyclone intensity prediction. The approach of these estimations will be addressed as well as examples from the 1999 hurricane season including Bret, Dennis, and Floyd.